Same time, same place

San Francisco school officials backed off a plan to bump up the start of the school year this fall in an effort to create a more sensible academic schedule.

That means students will start school at the end of August and finish up the first week of June — just like this year.

District officials had proposed cutting short the summer break by a couple of weeks so schools could end the first semester before the winter break.

Currently, students take two weeks off and then come back in January to face finals and end-of-semester stuff — their minds often candy cane-coated and hazy about whatever it was they were studying back in December.

But balking by parents, staff and teachers set the idea aside for a year.

The 2009-2010 school calendar is now posted at the district’s Web site here. School will start on Aug. 24 and end on June 4 — five days earlier than the last day of school this year.

Look for a short summer break next year though. If district officials have their way, it’s likely kids will be hitting the books as early as Aug. 9 — when summer camps and swimming lessons are still in full swing.